What is a Work Order?

What is a Work Order?

A work order is an authorization of maintenance, repair or operations work to be completed. Work orders can be manually generated through a work request submitted by a staff member, client, tenant, or automatically generated through a work order management software or Preventive Maintenance (PM) schedule. Work Orders can also be generated via follow ups to Inspections or Audits.

What is the purpose of generating a work order?

Offer an explanation of the problem, repair or installation

Schedule resources and tools needed for maintenance

Provide technicians with detailed instructions on the work to be performed

Document the labor, materials and resources used to complete the work

Track all maintenance and repair work that has been performed on each asset

What are work orders comprised of?

Who is requesting the work

Who is authorizing the work

Who will perform the labor

What the task at hand is

When the work needs to be completed by

Where the work needs to be performed

How to complete the tasks, with necessary parts listed

Manually created work orders have been prevalent in the maintenance world since the first maintenance teams were established. Though paper-based work orders seem to be easier to create in the moment, they do not perform well as a long term/large scale solution. This method also includes unforeseen challenges, such as delays in communication, extra costs (in both time and money) for data entry personnel and more. In today’s fast-paced maintenance world, as organizations grow and their reach expands, managing paper-based work orders can become all together inefficient and environmentally unfriendly.

Using Your CMMS for Work Order Management

Work orders are the heart of a maintenance program, and utilizing the work order software tools within a CMMS helps organizations stay up-to-date on labor, projects and resources in the current queue. The work order management tools enable an organization to take control of work backlog and upcoming work, make constant improvements, boost labor productivity and remain compliant. There are three main players in the work order management process:

WORK REQUESTORCreates work requests to report an issues on equipment or assets.

WORK ORDER APPROVERApproves request & assigns work to appropriate technicians.

TECHNICIANPerforms work & closes work order

Work Order Request Management

Work cannot always be planned ahead of time. For corrective work or customer appeals, work order requests are submitted. Maintenance managers can tailor workflow processes for request submission, approval, rejection, and completion to the specific needs of their organization. Identifying a workflow process ensures:

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are adhered to by all users

Work goes through an approval process

Areas of responsibility and expectations are clear for users

Periodic process auditing is performed

Valid data is being entered into a CMMS

Efficient communication flow

With eMaint, organizations have the option to choose between three work order request submission options:

Work requestors are given an eMaint user login that allows them to submit requests and view the history and statistics of their requests

Work requestors send an email to a designated email address that gets converted into an eMaint work request

Work requestors submit requests to eMaint through a customized web form that is embedded (on a company’s web page or intranet)

With the work request tools in a CMMS, the human error associated with phone or face-to-face requests is no longer an issue. Organizations can send requestors automated email alerts when a work request is approved or rejected, and then an automated email alert with a satisfaction survey once work has been completed.

With modern mobile CMMS solutions, requestors can submit work requests anytime, anywhere from their mobile device, including pictures of equipment needing repair.

Work Order Software

With the technological advancements of today, comprehensive CMMS software makes it easy to work the way you want to work with tools that enable organizations to increase on-time work completion, improve workflow efficiency, keep track of project due dates and more.

Work Order Assignment - Using features such as eMaint’s maintenance scheduling tools, maintenance planners and schedulers can directly assign work orders to staff, contractors or vendors on a specific day, time or location. Assigned and unassigned work orders can also be viewed on a calendar display, and work can easily be reassigned when necessary.

Scheduling Calendar - View a calendar by day, week or month with all labor resources and open work orders, or adjust calendar views and filter work by employee, work order type (such as Preventive Maintenance Schedules) or whatever information is most critical to your organization. Organizations can also utilize the PM Projection feature to plan upcoming work and ensure parts, labor and tools are available.

Mobile Maintenance - Using mobile CMMS maintenance services such as eMaint’s MX Mobile, you can access real-time data and perform functions throughout your facility and on the road, including submitting and approving work requests, signing and closing out work orders and more.

Projects

Major overhaul and renovation projects can be a headache, but the management process doesn’t need to be. With eMaint’s project management tools, organizations can easily create projects and assign and track work orders from project inception to completion.

With Gantt Charts, users can view all work orders within a single project based on dates to help create a visual understanding of work competition rates compared to the project end date.

Benefits of Work Order Management Software

Organizations across all industries have experienced impressive benefits by utilizing the work order management tools within eMaint CMMS solution.

MidFirst Bank is one of the biggest privately-owned banks in the United States. Prior to implementing eMaint CMMS, MidFirst Bank had no formal PM or work management program in place, making maintenance tracking and reporting impossible.

During implementation, MidFirst Bank personalized eMaint to automatically route work orders to the appropriate technician and/or subcontractor based on category. Benefits of eMaint CMMS include:

Whispering Woods Resort is a 74-unit vacation ownership resort located on 10 acres in Welches, Oregon. The Whispering Woods team needed a way to manage requests from guests and resort staff, and keep track of backlogs.

Over 50 work orders are produced each week and allocated across 12 different charge codes. eMaint is also a management tool used to track work performed and time to complete the work so productivity can be measured. Whisper Woods Resort experienced:

20% improvement in productivity and response time to requests

Ability to keep up with expanding maintenance and housekeeping needs

Reports show maintenance backlog and upcoming work to be performed

Maintenance expenses are allocated to the appropriate cost center for budget tracking

Periodic status and expense reports produced for each association and board members

A leading global provider of fishing tackle, lures, rods and reels, Pure Fishing operates in 19 countries with a workforce conversant in 28 languages. The company searched for a CMMS solution to more efficiently manage the building, equipment and grounds.

Once eMaint was implemented, the company purchased Apple iPhones and iPod Touches for each of their mobile users, and customized the mobile interface to match their vision of simplicity and efficiency. Pure Fishing saw:

Ability to use the eMaint software on mobile devices of all sizes and tailor the interface to their match their entry requirements

Real-time web-based access that provides an efficient method for managing work and spotting trends

Improved communication between the maintenance team due to the ability to access their mobile CMMS from anywhere at any time

Ability to complete tasks on mobile devices to support a paperless work environment

Barcode scanners on their mobile devices for increased productivity

Interested in learning more about CMMS and Work Orders? Check out our article "Benefits Of Online Work Orders vs. Work Order Templates and Forms."